My friend Dalilah of Hug My Hair is a pro with scarf styles for natural kinky and curly hair; she wears them daily. I invited her to teach me her styles. As with most hair styles it’s easier to show you how rather than write a novel explaining how the styles work. Enjoy the video: 

I have 4C Hair and if I go to bed with my afro out I tend to wake up with it all matted and looking extremely unkempt.

Whilst twisting or plaiting hair is excellent to prevent matting and tangling, I quite frankly don’t have the time, especially now that I am a mother.

Anyhow, because my hair is long enough I can effectively use the pineapple method for bedtime for a few days without incurring either matting or tangling. Unfortunately, however, the method cannot be used indefinitely because steam in showers and the daily water spritzes to hydrate kinky-curly hair naturally lead to shrinkage and hair gets harder to pineapple.

How Does The Pineapple Method Work?

1. After your weekly wash do whatever you do to stretch your hair, I normally two-strand twist.
2. At bedtime your hair will be in it’s stretched form. Flatten the sides and push the hair upwards to look like a pineapple (you can use a headband to help with this)
3. Use a satin or silk-effect scarf to tie the hair up
4. Put a satin cap over any hair that is sticking out at the top for extra protection. This is not a must but I personally like to do it.
5. Go to bed looking sexier than usual, lol.
   

Click to buy a 33.5 inch silk effect scarf to pineapple your hair. The scarf can be worn out to parties as well as in the boudoir.

If you, like me, have ever taken vitamin supplements to help with healthy hair growth you will probably have already heard about the “B-vitamins.” These are a group of essential nutrients which are well renowned for health in general, but hair in particular. Each of the 8 vitamins have a number after the B.

Some of the vitamins are better known by their other name, like folic acid (B9), whereas others are better known by the number, e.g. vitamin B12.

They are:

• Vitamin B1 aka thiamine
• B2 aka riboflavin
• B3 aka niacin
• B5 aka pantothenic acid
• B6 aka pyridoxine
• B7 aka biotin
• B9 aka folic acid
• B12 aka cyanocobalamin (but everyone calls it B12)
  

(If anyone knows what became of B4, B8, B10 or B11 then leave a comment below!)

These vitamins play a crucial role in the production and maintenance of proteins in the body. Since your hair is a made from a protein (keratin) these vitamins are vital for healthy hair.

I already wrote a blog about the best foods for natural hair growth and strength but to summarize you get many of the B vitamins in eggs, milk, rice and whole grains as well as poultry meat and offal such as kidney, liver or tripe.

The main hair benefits of B vitamins include:

1. Improved retention
2. Reduced hair loss 
3. Reduced hair thinning 
4. Prevention of loss of hair color
   

One reason for their role in hair growth is that folic acid and vitamin B12 are important for healthy red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body and help everything grow efficiently.

Dandruff and dry scalp have been linked to B vitamin deficiency and certain people with vitamin B7 deficiency get severe dermatitis (skin inflammation) and hair loss.

So if you have these issues, take a closer look at your diet, and if unsure seek help from a dietician or specialist nutritional expert.

Eggs & milk for breakfast anyone? Yes sirree. Bring on those whole oats too!

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Black Hair.

When you see an ingredient in your shampoo with the word "Sulfate" on the end it means that the molecule has been combined with sulfate to make it more soluble. For instance, oils aren't soluble in water but if you sulfate an oil it becomes much more water soluble.  Similarly, ammonium and sodium are much more soluble in water when they have been through sulfation. Sulfates are also skin irritants.

Of all the surfactants, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, SLS, is the most irritating to skin so it is normally combined with other surfactants to make it less irritating.

Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) is less irritating than Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).

As you know, I, like most other natural hair bloggers, don't recommend sulfate shampoos.

Although it is one of the most irritating surfactants SLS is widely used in shampoos because it is:

• Not expensive
• Foams well 
• Can be thickened easily
• It’s a very effective cleanser
  

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLeS) is less irritating than Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) too. Just like SLS, SLeS thickens easily but it has the additional benefits of:

• Foaming well in hard water
• Being less irritating to skin
  

Ammonium Laureth Sulfate has all the benefits of Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLeS) but is even less irritating to skin.

So if we were to rank these four sulfates from most irritating to least irritating we would have:

• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - most irritating to skin and drying to hair
• Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS)
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLeS)
• Ammonium Laureth Sulfate - least irritating to skin and drying to hair
  

Note SLES is not the same thing as SLeS:

• SLES = Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate
• SLeS = Sodium Laureth Sulfate
  

Overall, sulfates are effective at cleansing greasy hair but tend to make dry hair even drier.

Iron is critical for healthy hair growth. When you're iron deficient:

• Hair is dry, brittle and dull
  
• You could start shedding more hair
  
• Your hair could get thinner
  

Iron deficiency is common in women because we lose A LOT of it during menstruation and pregnancy.

Iron uptake inhibitors!

Research suggests that when levels of zinc and iron are the same in a multivitamin your iron uptake will be much lower. Zinc interferes with the iron uptake. If you want to stop this from happening there should be 3 times more iron than zinc in your multivitamin. I'm going to get a new multivitamin because mine actually has less iron than zinc - oops!

Coffee, tea and calcium-rich foods, e.g. dairy can also inhibit iron uptake so they should be taken several hours after eating iron-rich foods to optimise iron absorption.

Iron uptake promoters

Vitamin C. This is found in especially high amounts in citrus fruits, e.g. oranges including orange juice, lemons, strawberries, kiwi and cherries. A small glass of orange juice with or after a meal is a good way to improve your iron uptake.

Which foods are rich in iron?